Mental Toughness, Physical Strength

Training

Actually going to double this up as I got both for under €20 in none other than Mr. Price. Anyhoo for starters every single person should own a whiteboard which you hang in your room or somewhere extremely visible in your house. For me thoughts are only thoughts until you write them down! Writing them in a diary or book is ok but it’s hidden away, instead putting in out there and visible, if only to yourself, is a power shift in how you look at things you think about! Write anything, leave it awhile and see how you feel, see what grows! I like it in my bedroom as I can reflect before sleep and often in the morning something new comes. Write your goal, look at it everyday, it makes early morning training much much easier, believe me.

The second item is a calendar with enough space to write notes for everyday, use it to plan your days, weeks and months leading to that goal.

Whiteboard – €7.99 Mr. Price
Calendar – €6.99 Mr Price

Here are mine (Getting ready for 2018)!

A Podcast episode I’m listening to…

The ‘Strength and Scotch’ podcast…straight off the bat, what a concept, all these guys do is talk about different scotches and workout techniques! Fucking awesome! I’m new Continue reading →

What’s up guys, Happy Friday. Here are some bits and pieces from the last week:

An exercise variation I’m trying out…

Reverse Pull down on the Diverging Lat Pull Down machine – the diverging movement when you flip this exercise around really focuses the attention on the Rhomboid major and lower trap muscle. Aim for your the bottom of the movement to have your hands ending just behind and below your ears! Use lower weight here to ensure you focus on the above mucles, otherwise you will engage the arms much more.

What I’m listening to…

I’ve been a big fan of Tim Ferris’ blog for quite some time but just this week listened to one of his top 10 all time Podcasts featuring Charles Poliquin. What an amazing character, and what an amazing 2 hours or so of content. They speak at length about strength training, what exercises you should forget about, what supplements you should be taking for health benefits, meat eating versus vegan for training, where to go to find medical information…..It really is an amazing listen.

I usually listen to my podcasts while working out but this was one I just couldn’t stop listening to after my session finished. So many tips is here, for sure check it out!!

For the longest time I convinced myself that morning weight training wasn’t for me, sure running or walking in the morning sets you up for the day but weight training…No Way! It just doesn’t suit my body. It makes me feel ill. I can’t push myself as hard. I’m too tired to perform mentally at work later in the day. All of these were legitimate excuses that I kept to keep me out of morning weight training where at all possible. All of this based on some poor morning performances I had previously resulting in some or all of the above on the one day through lack of preparation.

Roll forward to my latest programme, and I just cannot get enough of the morning training. I feel absolutely great and here’s why:

A hectic week by all accounts but managed to stay true to my training and plan. A real clash of work commitments couple with gym goals, this was a testing week but I’ve come through it more motivated than ever. My body is really beginning to kick itself into shape and a few additional minor adjustments should really amplify the results I’m seeing, I’m right where I want to be! It’s the half way point and I must say I’m enjoying the training as much as ever, no lapse, and this has to hold in the next 6 weeks as work is becoming nuts again.

Really happy that I am continuing to push myself not just in every workout but in every rep!

Lent is upon us, and being the good little catholic that I am I decided to give up a few of my favourite things, which by no coincidence at all (If God is watching) coincides directly with my fitness goals!

My diet in general is quite good but presents two different challenges as I transition from working week to weekend!

Work

In work, it’s all about meetings; planned meetings, unplanned meetings, meetings that run over…why o why do they always run over! 😡 Typically at a conservative estimate I probably find myself in meetings between 20 and 25 hours a week, maybe more! As a result it can be hard to regulate my meals! I figured that meals requiring forks are out when flexibility is needed! Sandwiches with whole grain bread and a chicken breast has become the option to ensure I eat! I have grown quite comfortable pulling my lunch out in senior management meetings! On the plus side it makes it look like I work really hard, which I do 👍 Continue reading →

Week 3 went extremely well, hit all my workouts and made progress on every weight I lifted, I’m still in the easing myself back in phase but feeling really strong. I love training and with 9 more weeks to go I’m highly motivated. On the work front, things got busy again but where there’s a will there’s a way! Discipline and determination to maintain a work-life balance has been key, that and training late at night!

From my summary measurements below you can see that I’ve lost 3 lbs in 3 weeks, not huge you may say and if I were looking at weight alone I could easily get disappointed, but I’m not! Instead I have added 10.5 cm’s of muscle to the body parts that I want, and lost 3.5 cm’s off of my waist at rest. I can’t stress enough how measuring your weight alone is not and should not be done. I feel great and am beginning to look great. Continue reading →

It feels great to be back, I repeat, great to be back. Week 2 was a little tougher, work hours piled back on making things more difficult. There’s always going to be another deadline, another obstacle, or something in your life which tries to throw you off your plan. For me, I hit all my planned sessions this week despite the timing of some being later in the evening or converted to home sessions.

I feel strong, I feel I’m getting back to where I’ve been previously, confident under the weight but no where near my PB yet. In terms of cardio, I’ve not yet gotten into the rhythm of my interval training, this is due mainly to the time constraint i’m under with work, Instead I’ve been using my commute as cardio, walking everyday for at least 25 minute, some days twice a day. It’s perfect for what I need right now.